Karl Hein made his competitive debut for Arsenal U23s against Everton on Friday night, but things didn’t go to plan for the young goalkeeper.
Hein, in his second season with the club, was selected to start ahead of James Hillson at Emirates Stadium as Arsenal aimed to maintain their winning start to the campaign.
The game ended 2-2, with Hein not faring well for either goal, both of which were scored by Anthony Gordon.
For the first goal Hein should have reacted quicker in his attempt to save Gordon’s effort.
The second goal was far worse, with Hein coming off his line uneccesarily and Gordon taking full advantage.
It was ultimately a disappointing night for Hein, but it is expected that young players, especially goalkeepers, will make mistakes, and it will be intriguing to see how he responds to this setback.
The Estonian is very highly rated by the Arsenal coaching staff and featured prominently at U18 level last season before injury curtailed his campaign.
At the age of 17, Hein has plenty of time to improve and there have been other occasions when he has performed extremely well for the U18s.
For now, it wouldn’t be surprising if Hillson, who joined the club permanently this summer following a successful loan spell, was to regain his place in the starting lineup for the U23s.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Guess that’s partly the point of u23 – hopefully he learns a lot from it.
Did Holding play?
Yes Holding played 90 minutes.
Has Arthur Okonkwo been playing much? Thought he was one of the more highly rated keepers we had.
Hi Jorge,it really has been a while I heard of Arthur Okonkwo. How is he?is he still on the books of the club